1929. With Illustrations. The autobiography of the Russian theatrical director, teacher, and actor. His outstanding productions included many of the plays of Chekhov, in which he tried to strip away rhetorical clichés to enter the emotional core and complex psychology of the characters. Stanislavsky stressed the importance of the actor's inner identification with the character and the actor's natural use of body and voice. His training, now termed the Stanislavsky method, or method acting, had a vast influence on modern schools of acting. In New York City the Actors' Studio adapted many of his ideas to their use.